David Denney was formally sentenced to 40 years by Judge Judy Vance Murphy on July 14 in connection with the death of his wife, Darcey Albee.
Denney appeared in Adair Circuit Court for sentencing on a plea agreement that he entered in with the Commonwealth on June 11.
Denney agreed to an Alford plea to one count of murder, one count of first-degree promoting contraband and two counts of second-degree criminal abuse involving a child age 12 or younger.
Under the agreement, Denney agreed to a sentence of 25 years on the murder charge, five years on the promoting contraband charge and five years on each of the criminal abuse charges. The sentences will run consecutively for a total sentence of 40 years.
An Alford plea is when a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the Commonwealth has enough evidence against them that they would most likely be found guilty at trial.
When given the opportunity to make a statement, Denney said, “I just want to get this done with and let the courts know and the world know how I am not guilty of this stuff. I just want to give my condolences to everyone that has lost a loved one because I, too, and my children have also lost a loved one. She was a beautiful human being. I just want to be heard that I am not guilty of her demise. I would never ever hurt no one as far as like that in all my life. That’s all I’d like to say at this point.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Brian Wright responded that the court is aware that Denney entered an Alford Plea to these crimes.
“The comment I would make, Judge, is to reference the court’s PSI. The nature of the offense, paragraph one, the listing of the injuries to Darcey. I think this is a fair resolution that ends in a total sentence of 40 years. We have gotten there by adding some numbers together with a conviction of murder…I think that is appropriate,” said Wright.
“Everybody recognizes that is a potential that a jury could have found him guilty of something different, but there’s certainly, in my opinion, the likelihood that a jury would have given him a much harsher sentence. So, I think this is fair for everybody. I hope this gives the family some peace in knowing he is convicted of murdering their loved one and he will spend considerable time, if not the rest of his natural life, in prison,” he said.
Hadley trial rescheduled
Bruce Hadley, who is charged with the murder of his son, Jordan Hadley on Jan. 13, appeared in court with his attorneys, Jude Hagan and Elmer George, for a pretrial conference.
Hagan said that two experts had been retained. However, he did not think that a September trial date is realistic. They are still awaiting reports from these experts.
“Judge, we also are weighing, Mr. Hadley has the right under 503.085 to file a motion seeking immunity, which we are still mulling that over. Once we get these reports, that would be, I am sure Mr. Wright would need time to prepare for that if we do file such a motion,” said Hagan.
The motion that he is referring to under KRS 503.085 is a Kentucky statute that provides criminal and civil immunity for individuals who use permitted force in self-defense, defense of others, or defense of property.
Wright had no objections to changing the trial date and suggested a November date.
Murphy set the trial to begin Nov. 2 with five days set aside for the trial.
By Amy Pike
Amy@adairvoice.com
